The Macedonian Referendum: two sides of a coin

The Macedonian referendum result has created mixed feelings: 3 months ago a historic agreement between the Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and the Macedonian prime minister Zoran Zaev was signed in order to settle a longstanding dispute between the two countries on the issue of the name of the Macedonian State, changing it from Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia to Republic of North Macedonia.

We cannot affirm if the lack of the legal quorum was due to a boycott or a general disinterest of citizens, but the fact that it was not reached means that the agreement has not been approved in spite of the overwhelming vote in favour.

The negative aspect is that this would have finally solved a longstanding crisis between two countries in a delicate region of the world, the Balkans, which still need stability.

This crisis would be inconceivable in an EU member state and shows how Macedonia is not a mature enough democracy.

The question surrounding the Balkans can be solved by normalising the foreign policy, but above all strengthening democracy (and the EU can do it with its conditionality policy).

If we are not sure that Macedonia is a full democracy, the membership of the EU and of NATO must be delayed. If these two organisations are to keep any credibility, they must act according to their founding principles and push for the countries which want to join them to adopt their values.